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A MONTH LATER...
“Uncle Merv, are you all right?” Dana Sweet moved closer to her elderly uncle as he held his cane in the hallway of his house. She’d just stopped by to pay him a visit at his house after running some errands for him.
She dropped the bag of groceries by the door as she went over to him. He was standing holding his cane in one hand as he placed the phone receiver down with his other hand. He looked as if someone had died.
“You don’t look too well,” Dana continued, hugging him. “Where’s Aunt Nia?”
“She’s at the nail salon, getting her monthly manicure and pedicure. You know how much she never misses a chance to pamper her nails.”
“I know. Oh, dear. Are you all right?” She helped him into the kitchen and sat him down by the kitchen table on a wooden oak chair.
“Oh, pumpkin. It’s my dear older sister,” Uncle Merv said, sobbing. “She’s back in hospital again.”
“Oh, no. Not Aunt Mary!”
“Yes, you’re grand-aunt Mary, pumpkin. She’s not too well. I don’t know if she’ll make it this time.”
“What is it?”
“Well, you know that she’s an invalid, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Well, her son Max has been taking care of her at the estate but...but my dear nephew won’t be able to any longer.”
“Oh, no. Why?”
“He’s been arrested.”
“Arrested? But why?”
“For murder.”
“Murder? That’s awful! Uncle Max is so quiet and shy. What happened?”
“His wife was found poisoned?”
Dana gasped. “Oh, no. But uncle Max was always fond of her. Why would he do that? Was it a crime of passion? Were they having a heated argument?”
“Well, I’m not going to lie to you, pumpkin. He was my nephew but the guy liked to get around, you know. He was a bit of a lady’s man. And he had stolen that wife from a friend of his. Well, an ex-friend and business associate.”
“Do you think it’s possible that the jilted husband had anything to do with it?”
Uncle Merv sighed heavily and looked at her with sadness in his eyes.
“I know this is a bit much to ask, pumpkin and you probably want to get things going with the Cozy Cupcakes Café and all, and that online Fox Magazine of yours, but...well, since you’re good at solving riddles, I thought you’d like to help me out here. You know, Max might have been a player but he was the only one to look after my sis.”
“I know, Uncle.”
“And if she stays in that nursing home, she’s a goner. You know how much she doesn’t like to be in institutions. I can’t have that, you know.”
“No, you can’t,” Dana said, thoughtfully, her eyebrows knitted in concern. “And Aunt Mary has been so kind to all of us over the years when she was well.”
And that was true. When Dana’s parents died when she was only a teen, Aunt Mary was one of the first to step in to help Dana and her grandmother by sending money to make sure to take care of them—so were Auntie Nia and Uncle Merv.
Still, Dana really didn’t want to get involved in having to solve another murder again, outside of a murder mystery riddle on her own blog, that is, but this was family. And she didn’t think that Uncle Max could be capable of murder.
After all, she herself was wrongly a suspect in a murder she had nothing to do with over a month ago when the food critic for the Berry Cove Gazette ended up murdered just shortly after he’d slammed her in an unfavorable and unfair review. It also turned out that the food critic had been dating her competitor, too.
“No. You certainly can’t have that tragic circumstance happen, Uncle Merv.”
Oh, no. There she went again...
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***AVAILABLE NOW: Book 2 in the Dana Sweet Cozy Mystery series
BLUEBERRY CREAM CUPCAKE & MURDER
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THANK YOU FOR READING A Dana Sweet Cozy Mystery.
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A DANA SWEET COZY MYSTERY series:
Strawberry Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 1)
Blueberry Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 2) Available now!
Chocolate Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 3)
Strawberry Meringue Cupcake & Murder (Book 3.5) * Bonus Short Story
Vanilla Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 4)
Holiday Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 5)
Valentine’s Cupcake & Murder (Book 6)
Buttercream Cupcake & Murder (Book 7)
Coconut Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 8)
Cherry Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 9)
Chocolate Chip Cupcake & Murder (Book 10)
Coming soon...
More delightful stories set in the cozy small town of Berry Cove in the Dana Sweet Cozy Mystery series.